Dr. Laurel Victoria GrayChoreographer of EGYPTA: Myth , Magic and Mystery An award-winning dancer, scholar, educator, choreographer, costume designer, Laurel Victoria Gray is 'the pioneer of Uzbek dance in America.' Her efforts to preserve and present traditional Central Asian and Persian dance make her a true cultural diplomat. In 2007, she was awarded on honorary doctorate by the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan for her work in promoting and preserving Central Asian dance. She is the recipient of the 2006 Metro DC Dance Award for Excellence in Costume Design; the 2005 Distinguished Service Award from the Embassy of Uzbekistan; the 2003 Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project Award; and the International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance (IAMED) Awards for Best Choreographer (2003) and Best Ethnic Dancer (1999). Gray teaches as an adjunct professor of dance at George Washington University and George Mason. As Artistic Director of the Silk Road Dance Company (SRDC), a Joy of Motion Company-in-Residence, she has inspired thousands of students, both amateur and professional, giving workshops, concerts, and lectures throughout Europe, Central Asia, Australia, the United States and Canada. Dr. Gray has traveled extensively, including twelve trips to Uzbekistan where she studied for two years at the invitation of Tashkent's State Academic Bolshoi Theater. Gray's scholarly articles have appeared in many publications including the Oxford University Press International Encyclopedia of Dance, the World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theater, the Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, the Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Culture, Dance Magazine as well as foreign dance journals. In 1990, she was an education outreach instructor for New York's City Center Theater, introducing thousands of middle school students to Soviet Georgian dance. For several years she gave instruction in Persian dance at the Iranian Community School in Vienna, Virginia. In 1984, Dr. Gray founded the Uzbek Dance and Culture Society and in 1994 established the annual Central Asian Dance Camp. She has traveled to Uzbekistan twelve times, living there for two years at the invitation of Tashkent's State Academic Bolshoi Theater and appearing on television dance programs over a dozen times. She was a member of the jury for the 1997 Sharq Taronalari Festival and for the 1993 Uzbekistan Puppet Theater Festival.Gray has lectured at the First and Second International Conferences on Middle Eastern dance as well as the 2006 Inaugural Conference on Near and Middle Eastern Dance at Connecticut College. She presented a workshop on women's dance of the Islamic World for the National Dance Education Organization 2008 conference. In 2012, she was a featured guest instructor at a world dance symposium at Dayton, Ohio. Greatly influenced by her dance studies on five continents, Dr. Gray has created a system for Middle Eastern and Persian dance. She combines both Eastern and Western teaching methodology in her classes, encouraging students to refine their technique while building confidence and exploring self-expression. She believes that since dance predates spoken language as a form of human communication, we all can access it as a universal source of joy and ecstasy. Concert works include: Hooray for Bollywood (2009); Raqaset Shaabia: Arab Folklore (2009); Legends of the Silk Road (2008); Gul Bahaar: A Celebration of Uzbek, Indian and Persian Dance (2007); The Golden Road to Samarkand (2006); Haft Paykar: Seven Beauties (2005); Egypta: Myth, Magic, and Mystery(2003); Remembering the Legends (2001); The Lion and the Sun: Dances of the Old Persian Empire (1998).Laurel Victoria Gray:Awards, Honors, and Recognition